The Iron Duke

I hereby declare November to be “Steampunk Month”! This is a super unofficial declaration, prompted in part because I’ve gone back to read The Iron Seas series and partly because a friend of mine referenced a steampunk amusement park on Facebook a week ago.

So – did you know there is a steampunk amusement park?? Me neither. Apparently such a place exists in France, which means France has immediately leapfrogged about 20 other countries on my “must visit here” list. Les Machines de l’ile Nantes is inspired by Jules Verne and DaVinci and contains a myriad of mechanical sea creatures. You can ride a giant mechanical elephant, ride a carousel of mechanical sea life, maybe even drive a mechanical ant. It might be the best thing to happen in France since . . . well, I’m not sure. But you get the idea.

Giant mechanical elephant; it can be taken out and "driven" in good weather with people riding aboard.

Credit to DesignTAXI

I digress. There is a wonderful steampunk series – the Iron Seas Series – written by Meljean Brooks. I referenced this in the review for Sleeping Giants, and was thus inspired to go back and reread these books so I could do them justice in a review. So we’ll do a book each week of November! The first book in this series is, appropriately enough, titled The Iron Duke.

Book cover art for "The Iron Duke"

Reviews for these books are plentiful, so feel free to check the blurbs on Amazon if you want the official book summary.

I will set the stage. Steampunk has run amok in Victorian England: people are enhanced with mechanical attachments, air ships are more popular than trains, and a zombie infection is decimating the countryside. The Horde, a technologically-advanced civilization (presumably from Mongolia), once infected most of the population with tiny little radio-controlled robots, which gave the Horde absolute control over the population. Finally, a hero arrives and destroys the radio towers in England, thus freeing residents from Horde control: Rhys Trahaearn. When a dead body falls on his house, Detective Inspector Lady Mina Wentworth is tasked with solving the crime. Rhys and Mina must find a way to work together if they want to stop a madman from wreaking total havoc.

Mina is fiesty, very smart, and not afraid to do whatever the job requires of her. She is also half Horde, which puts her at a disadvantage in society. Mina, in short, is awesome. Rhys is a little rough around the edges: he used to be a pirate, keeps many old secrets, and is a more than a little unconventional. I know some people think he is a little too much of a caveman, particularly as it relates to his relationship with Mina, but I wouldn’t expect anything different from a pirate. Their friends are flashy yet believable for the world they live in, and I loved them all.

I, personally, thought this whole book was fun. You like romance? It’s there. Like to laugh? It’s there. Want adventure? There’s plenty of it. I thought the characters were well written, and the book moves at a quick pace. The world building is excellent. I even felt sorry for the characters when they couldn’t have cake made with sugar – probably because I love cake.

I hate to get too deep into a review, because I don’t want to spoil anything or ruin it for anyone who has not read this. I will say – there are, currently, four books in this series. While you don’t have to read them all in order – each book does stand alone – there are characters who reappear in all stories and it might make more sense to read them in order.

Overall: 9/10.

Next week: Heart of Steel (Iron Seas #2)

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